Background. The objectives of this study were to determine microtensile bond strengths of two dentin adhesives and to compare the micromorphological structure of the resin/dentin interface in caries-affected dentin with that of intact dentin.
Methods. The authors randomly divided 40 proximal dentinal carious primary teeth and 40 noncarious anterior primary teeth into two groups (self-etching and total-etching). They used a caries-detecting dye as an indicator of the need to remove the outer carious dentin. The authors restored the teeth with a hybrid resin-based composite. After 24 hours’ storage in 37 C water, specimens were sectioned and shaped to form a curved section with a cross-sectional area of 1 square millimeter, then tension was applied until they fractured. The authors prepared the resin/dentin interfaces for the two bonding systems and examined them in 10 occlusal carious and 10 noncarious teeth.
Statistical Analysis. The bond strengths for intact and caries-affected dentin within the same group were analyzed via a t test. The authors compared the remaining dentin thickness (RDT) and dentin hardness using analysis of variance and the least significant difference test at the .05 level of significance.
Results. The self-etching adhesive demonstrated no statistical difference in bond strength between intact and caries-affected dentin. However, the total-etching adhesive demonstrated different bond strengths for intact and caries-affected dentin. Moreover, the RDT of specimens with intact and caries-affected dentin was not significantly different, whereas the dentin hardness of caries-affected dentin was significantly lower than that of intact dentin. The authors found a thicker hybrid layer in intact and caries-affected dentin of specimens in the total-etching group.
Conclusion. The adhesives exhibited significantly different bond strengths in intact dentin of primary teeth. However, they exhibited similar bond strengths in caries-affected dentin.
